SANTA CLARA – Welcome to a safe space where you’re welcome to overreact about a captain punching a teammate or a 49ers team nearly blowing another fourth-quarter lead. Yes, it’s our Week 11 wail-bag, er, mailbag:
What version of the 49ers are we gonna see this weekend? (@MrEd315)
Everyone loves a boxing rematch! I mean a second game against the Seattle Seahawks, of course. What else could I mean? Oh, by the way, Deebo Samuel’s only receiving touchdown this entire season was his 76-yard score in the Oct. 10 win at Seattle. The 49ers’ path to playoffs involves sweeping their remaining NFC West foes. Sweep the leg!
Do you think Pearsall is fitting that “Aiyuk role” well right now and moving forward? (@ji0.85)
Pearsall is doing a phenomenal job fitting into the offense, as evident in Sunday’s 23-20 win at Tampa Bay, from his first career touchdown to his two catches on the winning drive. “Coming from getting shot in the chest (Aug. 31) to scoring an NFL touchdown a couple of months later, that just doesn’t make sense. That’s Ricky Pearsall, dude,” Brock Purdy said Tuesday on KNBR 680-AM. “He’s a tough dude, a competitor. He wants it. He wants to show everybody what he’s made of. He’s a special kid and I’m really excited to be playing with him.”
Now, as for Brandon Aiyuk’s job at split end, that assignment went to Jauan Jennings for the first time in his career last game. “We needed to get Jauan back in a starting position and this was his first time ever playing ‘X’ position, which he’ll be doing the rest of the year,” Shanahan said. “He did a hell of a job.” Still, versatility is required to line up anywhere as a receiver in this offense, so Jennings, Pearsall, and Deebo Samuel must be ready to catch, block, and win.
How’s CMC feel after his debut? (@coreys.reed)
That is this week’s (this season’s) most pertinent question. Christian McCaffrey’s 56-snap, 19-touch season debut sure tested his months-old Achilles issues. Immediately afterward, he felt “pretty good. I thought I was going to be more sore but, we’ll see how I feel tomorrow. I never like saying anything until you wake up.” He didn’t wake up next to me so I’ll have to ask your follow-up question later this week — unless his lovely bride Olivia Culpo sends in an answer.
What do you think is a major issue with our second-half defense? (@empiretejas915)
A lack of late-game play-making, both with the 49ers’ offense and defense. The defense is not making clutch plays or specifically turnovers. Renardo Green’s interception that saved last month’s win in Seattle. Only one of their 14 other takeaways came in the fourth quarter: Nick Bosa’s strip-sack fumble to close out the 30-13 win over New England.
What do you think can fix our special teams situation? (@mattxwelch_)
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Robbie Gould … did not get back to me with an answer to this question, not that I asked if he’d unretire. Changing kickers? No, that didn’t solve things when Jake Moody missed the three games prior to Sunday’s return in Tampa. Bring in special teams studs? Well, the 49ers just signed ex-Giants cornerback Nick McCloud, a week after reacquiring Tashaun Gipson, but those moves add veteran depth to their defensive units more so than special teams. The eventual fix? They’ll find more ways to turn negative into a positive, because, after all, that worked on their last snap Sunday.
Will the 49ers continue to get better and make the playoffs with the tough schedule upon them? (@sf49erbob)
The next three games – Sunday matinee vs. the Seahawks, Nov. 24 twilight in Green Bay, Dec. 1 prime time in Buffalo – are a great measuring stick for whether the 49ers deserve to reach their fourth straight postseason and how far they might go in it.
